The US sculptor Richard Serra is dead. He died of pneumonia at the age of 85, as the New York Times reports. He is famous for his monumental steel works.
One of today’s most important sculptors is dead: the American artist Richard Serra died at the age of 85 in his home in Long Island. Serra’s lawyer John Silberman confirmed this to the New York Times. The cause of death was pneumonia.
Serra’s works of art, which are predominantly made of rusting steel, can be found in public spaces all over the world – including Germany. He created, among other things, the “Terminal” in Bochum, “Torque” in Saarbrücken and “Tilted Arc” in New York.
Serra’s “Equal” is on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
“Poet of Iron”
Serra was born in San Francisco to a Russian mother and a Spanish father. He trained in Paris and moved to New York in the 1960s. At the end of the decade he unveiled his work “One ton prop (House of cards)”, four 122 by 122 centimeter lead plates that are held in balance by their own weight like a house of cards.
Later, Serra turned his attention to large, brown-orange steel plates. They were shown in New York, Washington, Bilbao and Paris. In 2005, eight major Serra works were exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in Spain. In 2014, he placed dark towers in the sands of Qatar.
“East-West/West-East” is the name of the work of art that can be seen near Zekreet in Qatar.
The American’s large-format steel sculptures exhibited in public spaces were quite controversial among the public – in 1981, for example, there were calls for the “Tilted Arc” in New York to be dismantled. Colleagues called Serra a “poet of iron” because of his style inspired by 1970s minimalism.
Antje Passenheim, ARD New York, tagesschau, March 27, 2024 7:46 a.m